Miramax books ‘Reader’

Options novel by German law professor

NEW YORK — Miramax Films has acquired all rights to Bernhard Schlink’s international bestseller “The Reader,” the company said Tuesday.

Published in the U.S. by Pantheon Books, “The Reader” is the story of a passionate clandestine affair between a young boy and an older woman and the consequences for both when secrets in her past are revealed.

“This novel is one of the most compelling stories I’ve read in a while,” said Miramax chairman Harvey Weinstein. “The unique combination of eroticism and issues of morality is sure to yield exciting results on the bigscreen.”

A law professor at the University of Berlin, Schlink is a practicing judge in Germany and the author of several prize-winning crime novels. “The Reader” is currently being translated into 14 languages around the world.